first gold pics

[strickman]

i know this is nothing to what you cal. boys get ,this was several trips west ga. ,pickers ,flake ,and 1 nice nugget.ya'll get this in 1 day in cal. right?

 

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[bigfish31]

It's all good! Show me the gold!

 

[jewelerdave]

Any amount of gold is nothing to complain about.

how long did that take to get? What type of equipment did you use?

say for example if that was from just hand panning over a weekend, thats pretty good, Id look into some power equipment.
If say that was useing a 6 inch dredge for a week...id find another spot.

 

[strickman]

it was sevaral trips,hand panning.maybe 1 hr slucing-but mostly panning.my dredge is messed up(3 " keene) friend rebuilt engine and put pump together wrong now the impeller is stuck to the front of engine ,i think he lost gasket maybe.now its impossible to get back off.but it is very dis-heartning .so now i'm stuck hand panning.one of my favorite spots is in a national forest and only hand panning is allowed.but there is still some nice stuff left,but it is a long hike.and i don't get to go that often.

 

[stefen]

i know this is nothing to what you cal. boys get ,this was several trips west ga. ,pickers ,flake ,and 1 nice nugget.ya'll get this in 1 day in cal. right?

California boys get that much from panning the dirt from their pant cuffs

 

[strickman]

i know,it makes me sick.ya'll have the motherload,and thousands of acres to prospect.out here its all private,or there's a wallmart or subdivison sitting right on top of it.i used to have a good spot here in villa rica (city of gold) used to get good color in every pan nothing big but lots of small flake.now its underneath a block-buster,and a parking lot.just my luck.i wish i could dredge cal.and go sniping every day.hopefully i'll get to go a little more often this year.

 

[jewelerdave]

Everyone always knocks private land as impossible to work on. Yes a lot of people will say no, but you can make them say yes.

One can always build a relationship from talking to people with private land.

here is a neat trick I picked up from my Dad when we wanted to see some Dinosaur bones on a local ranch.
The guy who owned it was rather crabby.
First time we met him he was like NO.
My father sent him a gift card to Red Lobster for $25 with a letter asking for permission to visit the site with scouts and our family.
Amazingly after that he said yes.
Even years later when he for got and he called up asking, he got the Who the heck are you and what do you want?
He mentioned the Red Lobster Gift card and did a compleat 180 and it was ok with us going up there again.

I think we were the only people to ever be nice too him, and it paid off he never forgot that Dinner with his wife.

Point is, even some of the most difficult people to work with can come about with the right kind of persuasion.

 

[strickman]

good story dave,thats true and it is good for karma too.hey i saw the pics of the rings you made ---NICE___ i've made pendants from some of my dust and small flake that turned out pretty good esp. for an amature with very little equipment.i heated it up used borax to clean and shield the gold,used a ghraphite stick,then cast it on rock salt,when finished rinsed it off with water to dissolve the salt,soldered on a bezel and wahhlla!worked great and looks natural no two alike.i used jewlers charcoal at first but didn't work as good,and was to much trouble but i did turn out several nice pieces that way also.but the rock salt gives them more character . i was learning from a friend,who became ill and passed,after he passed his wife sold me most of his equipment which wasn't much for $100.i've only used it once since then.its not the same ,you know ,i wished i was in cal.so i could learn a little (lot) from you and have a dredging buddy.since my buddy died i don't get to go as often as i like .now my kids 11 and 12 are old enough i can take them some.i'll try to get you pics soon. jim s.

 

[jimmatt_43]

Nice digging.

 

[Lookin]

Strick, I'd be happy to have that much gold after just a couple of trips panning! WTG! Thanks for sharing and keep the pics coming!

 

[kuger]

That is a good take out here too.Anybody that has looked for gold (even in Calif)knows how much work it takes.People that look at that gold and say"oh,is that all you found?"have never found much and have no idea how much work is really involved.Gold no matter where it is isnt easy.All of Calif. isnt a free for all either,all of my spots are on private land and it is a full time job keeping trespassers away(which is one reason I am allowed access to them)I also had that same thing happen with a pump impeller and took it to a repair shop that got it off....ruined....and charged me to do it!!I was not happy to say the least.Keene will sell you one but if I remember correctly it was almost as much as a complete pump!!I am looking for one for a P80 pump if you run across one

 

[strickman]

i makes me sick,once you get used to dredging it's hard to go back to the hard way.(really hard) i think thats what i need as well a p-80 isn't that for the 3" ? i wish i knew some one out here to do it that knew keene pumps.i a little gunshy now .i would hate to spend that much and have the same (or worse) problem.and to matters seem worse,we were at the flea market and a friend told me at another flea market some guy hard a 3" keene for $250 he went back to get it for me but the guy had already left ,don't know if he sold it but don't know how to get in touch with him.then later that day we found a nice wetsuit for$5 the lady said she had 1 more she would bring next week and got it for $5 as well.now i really wan't to get dredging.till then i've just got to work smarter,i've been trying to do this lately and it seems to be paying off .every one tries to read the creek ,inside bends etc. you know what i mean,but i have learned where the creek is now is not wher it used to be sometimes the outside bend might have been the inside years ago,sometimes the best layer is several feet above and maybe to the left or right of the main creek.ever walked down the creek and seen where some old timer had his old diggins way off to the side of the creek?and you think why would someone dig over there?thats not even in the creek?me too-then i got to thinking that if someone put that much work in it had to be for something.i mean it's hard hard work to dig a 30'x30' hole 6' to 12' deep ,esp.the hard way .you know they didn't do it for nothing .i checked out one , one day and noticed they were in the gray layer of (slickins) the ancient stream bed with water worn rocks ,almost round way away from where you would think to see that.it was above the creek.i found bedrock up high checked it and imiediatly started getting courser gold less fines and nuggets as well!!!!!so sometimes you need to think outside the realm of normal thinking that creek didn't always look like that!one of my places i haven't been there in 6 years or so,and it has changed a lot i mean a LOT .just think how much it could change in 100-1000 years .so thats why they always say gold is where you find it,because somtimes it's not where it's supposed to be ! these are just a couple of my personal observations and experiences and there is ALWAYS EXEPTION TO THE RULE ,but if you work more productive ,think ouside the box a little (sometimes a lot) you will do a lot better . good luck ,still wish i was in california.

 

[russau]

hey stickman the p-80 is for something real small. my p180 keene pump on my 4 inch dredge is a 300GPM pump my proline 2 inch is something like a p-100. why not contact keene eng and ask them what the gpm of that pump id for.

 

[strickman]

i think its 300 gpm as well ,i need some one with exp. on keene pumps to do it ,i can't get my impeller off .it's seized up against the motor,and i don't want to make it worse.

 

[bigfish31]

I called keene with some questions about an old impeller on an old pump, and they connected me with Mark Keene. He was very helpfull.

 

[Jeffro]

Go to your local pool supply store, if you have one. Impellers are fairly reasonable when they haven't been through too many hands before yours.

 

[strickman]

thanks big fish,i need to work on it .i need my keene,great piece of equipment.mine is an older one,wish i could afford a new one with air.i think i could do a lot with one of those.but either way i need to fix my old one.if i could get my wife interested in it ,it would be a lot easier. just think get the old one fixed,get new one with air,and flush valve.his and her dredge =double prouduction i would even let her use the new one! guess it don't hurt to dream

 

[Chris In W Georgia]

Here's some Ga. Gold for ya from N.Georgia... Dredged up with a Keene 5" Triple sluice.....Chris In W Georgia

 

[strickman]

hey chrisinwga. ,nice gold is that from chesttattee? where are you at in w. ga.?i'm in the villa rica area.maybe one day we can wet a pan.i need a prospecting buddy mine passed on ,and i don't like going by myself,never know what can happen,snakes,accidents and etc. but maybe we can hook up one day.p.m. me please.i'll give you more info.

 

[Chris In W Georgia]

They form the Weekend Goldminers leases,I,m also in the City of Gold....